Goa Police have urged beach shack operators in Calangute and Baga to verify their employees, maintain alternative and family contact numbers, and install CCTV cameras after concerns over missing workers and alleged illegal activity were raised at a pre-season meeting with operators.
At the annual meeting held at Baga, Calangute police inspector Laxi Amonkar stressed the importance of staff verification. The advice followed a case in which 13 employees of a Calangute shack allegedly disappeared after collecting their salaries, leaving the owner with only two cooks, according to the report.
Amonkar said operators should maintain more than one contact route for each employee, including family and alternative numbers. Police said proper verification could assist efforts to trace workers who go missing and give investigators additional information during an inquiry.
The meeting also brought complaints about alleged prostitution in and around Tito’s Lane in Baga and Calangute. John Lobo, general secretary of the Shack Owners Welfare Society, raised concerns about the presence of women near Piety Chapel at Khobravaddo until the early morning hours.
North Goa deputy superintendent of police Vishwesh Karpe asked shack operators to ensure that their premises were not used for illegal activities. He also called for closer monitoring of beach massage workers operating around the shacks and beaches.
Karpe further stressed the installation of CCTV cameras. Police said surveillance footage could support investigations into assaults, fights and other incidents occurring in or near the shack areas. The call places responsibility on operators to improve basic records and monitoring at temporary commercial premises that become active public-facing spaces during Goa’s tourist season.
The police directions cover both worker identification and activity taking place around beach shacks. For operators, the measures discussed at the meeting include employee verification, maintaining emergency and family contacts, monitoring massage workers and ensuring that their premises are not used for illegal activity. The report did not specify a deadline for compliance or whether any new enforcement mechanism would be introduced.
The meeting’s focus reflects the operational challenges created by seasonal businesses, where staff movement, late-night activity and large visitor volumes can complicate police investigations. In this case, the police emphasis was on creating records and surveillance links that could help authorities respond to missing-person cases, assaults, fights and other incidents.
The next steps described by police are for shack operators to carry out staff verification, keep updated contact details, monitor activities on their premises and install CCTV cameras to assist investigations.
